Not Two!

Not Two!

Damn if I didn’t walk around

a corner last night

and bumped right into myself;

stubbed my ego and nose too

same as if I’d walked into a foggy mirror

or a clear windowed door.

Standing there I was

looking at myself in a brother

denial and all defenses up

hiding from shame and guilt

projecting out onto the world

an anger toward self not owned inside.

This is not the first time mind you

that I’ve caught my self acting this way.

It’s just that it was painful

to see so clearly in another’s

face

their mirror of aggressive defense looking back at me

and them without a clue.

And me

not even thinking to say “Thanks”

for helping me remember

“Not Two!”

Yes my ego responded with anger too—

to the insult of stubbing my nose

on the mirror of another’s ego.

Damn him!

But the gift

in the opportunity to re-member

“Not Two!”

is worth a “Thank you!” anytime.

So “Thank you!” world.

No matter where I look

there you are—

and there I am too.

5 Comments

  1. kent

    09/30/2009 at 6:12 pm

    Marvelous. Inside one or the other of you beats the heart of a poet.

  2. cb

    10/22/2009 at 8:48 pm

    Hi
    i found, by accident, the poem
    “Not Two”
    I wondered who the author is ?
    It is remarkable – i identified immediately with it –
    thank you for posting it
    sincerely – carol

  3. Larry Glover

    10/23/2009 at 9:44 pm

    Thanks for the comment and complement, Carol. For the record, this ‘Not Two!’ “poem” is a reflection of my own inner processing.
    I do intend to post a short Zen poem, when I return from travels, that contains this phrase and was the inspiration for this title.

  4. cb

    10/23/2009 at 10:08 pm

    thank you
    for the answer
    safe travels
    thank you
    for sharing inner
    wisdom

  5. When I look into your eyes… « wild resiliency blog!

    10/30/2009 at 10:22 am

    […] recent post here, entitled Not Two!, received appreciative comments and in response to one I promised to follow up with the lines of […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.